The Ultimate Brakeless/Front/Rear/How many brakes? thread

i Just bought am old lugged track frame but cant have a back brake you think that's OK?i have all ways had two brakes ridding round London. i know i should just go fixed but gonna give it another month.Manuel to brain isn't quiet the same as it use to be.
thanks
Millie

http://www.londonfgss.com/discussion/1226/single-brake/

I was riding behind a courier yesterday along the strand with only a front brake on an s/s..... i still couldnt figure it out.

just go fixed millie...its fine.

yeah i am not to sure about one brake either. is there any way to add a back one? what would i have to do?
i know i should just take the jump but i love the last mile of my morning journey its nearly all down hill. great on a hang over.

The summary of the last argument on the matter:

Have two brakes, one is tolerable but not ideal and what if it fails?

take it so someone who is compitant nad get them to drill the rear bridge or swap it out for a new one with hole thats more of a frame builders job, but def doable the only prob will that it will need to be resprayed

does any one know any one who can do that?? ahhhhhhhhhhh i am so stupid.

go fixed or just lean back when you use the front brake.
or just regulate your speed so you dont speed out of control
to the point of you being scared to use your front brake.

One brake is 100% cool, once you go fixed you will see that you will cut down using of (even this one) brake.
But its good to have front brake on...sometimes some muppet might open a door or just turn without indicating...so its good to have mechanical backup :)
Thats just my opinion.

Not that you are likely to get nicked, but to be street legal in the UK you must have breaking devices on both wheels (a fixed hub counts as 1, a freewheel don't)

legally in the uk your not supposed to have flashing lights??

millierider does any one know any one who can do that?? ahhhhhhhhhhh i am so stupid.

Witcombe cycle in Deptford. It should not cost much as it would be a quick and easy thing to do. The respray cost depend on how fancy you want it.

http://www.witcombcycles.com/

is that true, no flashing lights?

dogsballs legally in the uk your not supposed to have flashing lights??

dogsballs legally in the uk your not supposed to have flashing lights??

I think that was the case but the law has changed I think

dogsballs legally in the uk your not supposed to have flashing lights??

IIRC the law says you must have filament bulb lights front and rear. This dates from the 1920s and specified filament bulbs to clarify that you could not use oil lamps. The filament bulb part means that LEDs were technically illegal. An amendment was made last year which meant that flashing LEDs are now legal, but they added this to the existing rules, rather than scrapping and starting from scratch. So, legally you can only run flashing LEDs, but only in addition to other lighting.

Given that you're extremely unlikely to be nicked for riding with no lights, the chances of bing nicked for no filament bulbs (or finding a copper who knows or cares about the rules) I wouldn't worry about running a flashing light.

if you're thinking of going fixed in a month then don't bother drilling/change you rear bridge - just ride it with the one brake for the month, it's no biggie

Re flashing lights ...

The flashing light thing was changed. They are kosher. Fsck the law if they aren't they indicate a bike on the road and should be compulsory (maybe with steady read too but that's personal choice).

You want rear brakes on a bike without mount? Know anyone with basic metal fab skills? Get them to make one of these...
http://www.kalavinka-bikes.com/brake.htm

One of my bikes is SS, I run just a front brake with KoolStop's, stops me sweet. On it I only have the front brake though because of how neat the bike looks without cables to the back and because theres no cable guides (anymore...), I'd have two if I didn't care about what it looks like, but I do. And its loverly.

millierider is that true, no flashing lights?

yes it's true - flashing LEDs don't count as proper lights, but no copper is going to pull you over for that.

The rule about brakes is sensible. The rule about lights is not.

natureboy [quote]millierider is that true, no flashing lights?

yes it's true - flashing LEDs don't count as proper lights, but no copper is going to pull you over for that.

The rule about brakes is sensible. The rule about lights is not.[/quote]

the law on lights changed a good few months ago

LEDs are now fine, what with tecnology being so clever and all most LEDs are real good nowerdays

natureboy [quote]millierider is that true, no flashing lights?

yes it's true - flashing LEDs don't count as proper lights, but no copper is going to pull you over for that.[/quote]

Read JimL's link. The law changed.

i stand corrected. hurrah for the law.

There are three main problems with only running a front brake on SS:

1. If the cable snaps you have to use some sort of funky manoevure to stop (e.g. foot onto back wheel). If you are careful with maintenance, replace any old cables currently in the bike and learn an emergency stop method before you need it then you should be ok.

2. A front brake provides most of the stopping power on a dry, flat surface. You really need a rear brake (or some form of rear wheel braking) as soon as you get onto oil, gravel, water or ice or as soon as you have to brake on a corner. Using a front brake in these situations leads to a much greater chance of a front wheel skid and that will put you on the ground before you've realised what's happened. Again you can help to address this with a cautious approach.

3. It's not legal, although I think this doesn;t matter compared to the two above.

Basically you can run just a front brake but you should be aware of the increased risks and make sure that you address them.

me bad. do that mean i can flash at the lights?! :p